Described as "one of the most brilliant Middle East scholars of our time," author, foreign policy expert and Stanford University fellow Fouad Ajami died Sunday from cancer at the age of 68.

In a statement from Stanford's Hoover Institution, where Ajami was the senior fellow, director John Raisian said the school "will forever miss his superb scholarship, quick wit and gentle spirit ... whose life and intellectual contributions influenced so many."

Ajami was a longtime frequent guest on CNN, who made regular appearances on "AC360" and the "Situation Room."